**Policy Summary: Expansion of South Indian Language Representation on DD Free Dish**
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is expanding the reach of DD Free Dish, Prasar Bharati's free-to-air Direct-to-Home (DTH) platform, with a focus on greater representation of South Indian languages. DD Free Dish's footprint covers the entire country, including remote and inaccessible areas, facilitating the dissemination of government schemes and public awareness campaigns through Doordarshan's national and regional channels.
DD Free Dish has experienced substantial growth, reaching approximately 49 million households nationwide in 2024, up from 33 million in 2018. To further enhance regional representation, the government has implemented several measures, including reserving slots for South Indian language channels in the 2025 e-auctions of the DD Free Dish platform and simplifying eligibility norms to encourage greater participation from private broadcasters in the southern region. Dedicated slots were offered for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam channels in recent e-auctions.
Since April 1, 2025, three additional South Indian language private channels – TV9 Telugu, Aastha Kannada, and Aastha Telugu – have been added to DD Free Dish. Doordarshan's regional channels, including DD Tamil, DD Saptagiri, DD Chandana, DD Yadagiri, and DD Malayalam, have also been onboarded. These channels are undergoing technological upgrades and enhanced promotion to increase their visibility. In addition to these, 27 educational channels on DD Free Dish relay programs in various South Indian languages.
This information was submitted by the Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. L. Murugan, in the Lok Sabha.
Release ID: 2147344.
Key Entities Referenced
DD Free Dish: Free-to-air (FTA) Direct-to-Home (DTH) platform of Prasar Bharati.
Prasar Bharati: The organization that owns and operates DD Free Dish.
Doordarshan: Indian public service broadcaster.
South Indian languages: Languages spoken in the southern region of India, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.
TV9 Telugu: A South Indian language private channel that has been onboarded on DD Free Dish.
Aastha Kannada Aastha Telugu: South Indian language private channels that have been onboarded on DD Free Dish.
Lok Sabha: The lower house of the Parliament of India.
Dr. L. Murugan: Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs.
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
DD Free Dish Expands Reach with Greater South
Indian Language Representation
Posted On: 23 JUL 2025 4:32PM by PIB Delhi
DD Free Dish is the free-to-air (FTA) Direct-To-Home (DTH) platform of Prasar Bharati. Its footprint spans
the entire country, including remote, border, and otherwise inaccessible areas.
Government flagship schemes and public awareness campaigns are disseminated through programs on various
national & regional channels of Doordarshan on DD Free Dish.
It has experienced consistent growth in its reach over the past few years. As per industry estimates, DD Free
Dish reaches approximately 49 million households nationwide as of 2024. The figure was 33 million in 2018,
signifying the positive audience growth.
The Government has taken various proactive measures to increase the representation of South Indian language
channels on DD Free Dish, including:
● For better regional representation, slots had been reserved for South Indian language channels in the
e-auctions of DD Free Dish platform (done in 2025)
● Eligibility norms have been simplified to ensure greater participation from private broadcasters in the
southern region
● Furthermore, dedicated slots were offered for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam channels in
recent e-auctions.
● Three additional South Indian language private channels viz. TV9 Telugu, Aastha Kannada & Aastha
Telugu, have been onboarded on DD Free Dish since 01.04.2025.
Doordarshan's own regional channels, such as DD Tamil, DD Saptagiri, DD Chandana, DD Yadagiri, and DD
Malayalam have also been onboarded. The channels are being technologically upgraded and better promoted
to enhance their visibility.
Apart from this, there are 27 educational channels on DD Free Dish, which are relaying programs in various
South Indian languages.
This information was submitted by Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and
Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. L. Murugan, in the Lok Sabha today.
***
Dharmendra Tewari/Navin Sreejith
(Release ID: 2147344)